Upper Missouri River Breaks NM Interpretive Center
701 7th Street Site Tour | Site Link | View Map |
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Bureau of Land Management|
Big Picture |
This educational project is a new effort to support the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Interpretive Center, which opened in fall of 2006. By using the UMRBNM, field learning experiences linked to classroom curriculum can bring history, geology, biology, and other subjects alive for students. Hands-on, place-based education will increase students' understanding of how their lives are connected with the natural world. | ||||
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Education Partners |
Fort Benton Schools and the River and Plains Society. | ||||
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Size |
This center and surrounding area is three acres in size. However, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument encompasses 377,346 acres and includes 149 miles of the Wild and Scenic of the Upper Missouri River. | ||||
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Facilities |
This interpretive center is 6,000 square feet in all. It includes a classroom, interpretive hall and boater registration/lobby area. A handicapped accessible trail which connects with the Fort Benton levee walk extends along the river, providing excellent opportunities to view waterfowl and raptors. A park bench overlooks the river, giving the visitor a wonderful location for reflection and relaxation. | ||||
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Climate |
Fort Benton is very warm in summer and very cold in winter. Typical summer temps can range to 100 degrees or more, with winter temps dropping to -20 or more for extended periods during the winter. ‘Chinooks’, which are warm southwest winds that come during winter, do not occur as often here as in nearby Great Falls. Storms can come from the north or east quickly, with windy days being the norm rather than the exception. Typical annual precipitation is between 10 and 12 inches. Spring and fall can provide spectacular sunny, blue-sky days. | ||||
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Geology and Paleontology |
The Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument offers a number of unique geological features. From the famed White Cliffs made of Virgelle Sandstone, to Shonkinite - a volcanic material named and identified from this part of the world, to gumbo - a tremendously slippery clay formed from bentonite that is abundant throughout the monument. Ancient fossils abound and include countless dinosaurs and pre-historic sea life such as sharks, clams, amonites, etc. | ||||
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Geography |
The monument is situated in North Central Montana. The Rocky Mountain Front lies to the west, with the eastern prairies and smaller mountains, or “Island Ranges”, such as the Snowy Mountains, Bears Paw Mountains, the Judith and Moccosin ranges, surround the river and the Monument. | ||||
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Ecosystem Types |
The uplands, or benches, are dominated by big sage communities. Conifer habitat types are typical as well, with riparian communities extending down the coulees (a deep gulch or ravine) to the river corridor. Riparian communities are dominated by cottonwood galleries with green ash forming the climax species community. | ||||
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Focal Plants |
Cottonwood trees were cut and used for fuel during the time of the steamships traveling along the Missouri. Cottonwoods were nearly depleted, and "woodhawks" (people cutting timber for cordwood then selling it to the steamships for outrageous prices) eventually had to find ways to cut timber in the uplands and bring it down to the banks of the Missouri for sale to the steamships. Cottonwood and green ash regeneration has been difficult since the construction of a number of dams upriver which regulate the natural flow of the river. Without the natural ebb and tide of the spring run-off new sandbars do not become established. New sandbars are crucial for cottonwood seedlings to become established. Removal of the cottonwoods and their lack of regeneration has impacted other plant and animal communities along the river corridor. | ||||
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Focal Animals |
Sage grouse, blackfooted ferret, blacktailed prairie dog, and the pallid sturgeon are among the better known threatened and endangered species within this monument. Additionally, shovel nose sturgeon, paddlefish, and peregrine falcon also have compelling stories of survival. Pallid sturgeon have been in existence for about 60 million years. Today we count individual pallid sturgeon remaining in this population, about 250 in all. What can be done for these prehistoric fish that live as long or longer than humans do? | ||||
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Prehistory |
Native Americans have called this area home for thousands of years. Prehistoric cultural features abound throughout the monument. Members of the Blackfeet Nation lived on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, and out on the prairies extending from Montana to southern Canada. Other local tribes of the area included Gros Ventre (pronounced grow-von), the Assiniboine, Sioux, the Little Shell band of the Chippewa, and others. | ||||
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Euro-American History |
Fur trade began via Great Britain and the establishment of the Hudson Bay Company. Fur posts became established in this part of Montana in the early 1800’s. Rival fur companies, such as the American Fur Company, competed for prime locations and exclusive trading rights with the Blackfeet and other tribes. Fort Benton was established in 1846. Steamship travel on the Missouri River soon became the basis of Fort Benton’s economy, effectively supplying the needs of new towns, military posts, and mines for the Pacific Northwest and southern Canada. For these reasons Fort Benton has become known as ‘the birthplace of Montana’ and the ‘world’s innermost port’. | ||||
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Current Communities |
Today Fort Benton is a town of about 1,500 people. It has worked hard to preserve its history while still providing services for today's surrounding agricultural communities. Tourism is becoming more important to the townspeople, especially since the designation of the Upper Missouri River National Wild and Scenic River in 1976, and the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument in 2001. Fort Benton sits on the bank of the Missouri River at the head of the Monument and Wild and Scenic River designation. | ||||
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What's important to federal land managers? Classroom materials are now available on invasive species, fire, watershed protection, and forest resource management. 
